Mysteries with a New England Accent

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My Big Pile of Books

Jane/Sadie/Susannah here, gearing up for a weekend filled with family, friends, and memories and wishing the same for all of you …

All the talk this week about desks and what we read outside the cozy genre makes me want to combine the subjects. I have a big ole pile of books, which is currently parked on top of my roll-top desk, where I do my day job as well as much of my writing work. Now, this is not my only pile of books (puh-leeze), but it’s the one I look up at most days. Here’s a sample of what’s up there:

About Susannah Hardy - Sadie Hartwell

Susannah Hardy is the author of the Greek to Me Mysteries from Berkley Prime Crime, Feta Attraction, Olive and Let Die, and A Killer Kebab. As Sadie Hartwell, she writes the Tangled Web Mysteries from Kensington Publishing, Yarned and Dangerous and A Knit Before Dying (August, 2017). Visit her websites at www.susannahhardy.com and www.sadiehartwell.com.

That’s quite a collection of books! Since I cleaned it off yesterday, not much crazy, but I do have a very tiny Buddha statue under the lamp to remind me to breathe. And the case for the CD I listened to as I cleaned my desk, a favorite with Emmy Lou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Linda Ronstadt. I listened to it twice in a row, in fact! Otherwise a few journaly notebooks, a box of kleenex, some dark chocolate, emergency cough drops, and my daily list notebook and pen. But ya shoulda seen it yesterday…

I’m reading The Emotional Craft of Fiction too — such a great book. I have a whole array of crazy things on one corner of my desk including: the Wonder Woman bracelet my husband gave me for Christmas, my mini US Marshal pin from Marc Cameron, a paperweight that looks like a giant diamond ring my daughter gave me for my unsold series, a cool glass pen holder my mom gave me with my CIA pen in it, a tiny treasure chest that Shari Randall gave me, my Sisters in Crime pin, my MWA pin, along with a few other things.They don’t take up that much room and they make me smile.

Vitameatavegamin, I love it! Most of the things on my desk are pretty mundane, but two things add a little interest: a magnet that reads, “Keep Calm and Write,” and a pen that’s shaped like a witch’s broom from Tonya Kappes that I picked up at Malice one year. Maybe I’d be more creative if I added a few things.

I have a ton of things on my desk that don’t seem crazy to me but I know how they’d look to a stranger, like: a stuffed Rainbow Dash my daughter got me when I decided being a person sucked and I wanted to be a pony instead because who doesn’t love ponies, a pile of corks from champagne bottles popped to commemorate different stages in my (young) publishing career, a few octopods from my friend Heather to remind me to embrace life, a pile of crime stickers, and a chocolate rose from my anniversary two weeks ago.

As I’ve said before, I don’t have a writing desk. But on my desk at the day job I have a tiny figure of Marvin the Martian pointing his ray-gun. I like to think he’s there to chase away the people with silly questions. 🙂

Crazy because it’s always empty: a note holder that’s fashioned from a giant (3 inch, I measured) brass paper clip stuck into a 2x2x1-inch base of Connemara marble (the real thing, green, from County Connemara, Ireland). I really ought to use it to display something special! –kate/ C T Collier

I have a calculator on my desk since I am currently engaged in a family business! I have that Victoria Holt book in my collection. It is so difficult to find her books in bookstores here, but I’m always on the lookout in bookstores. Hope you are enjoying the weekend!